UN Security Council

Palestinians at the site of a destroyed home from an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 22, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Even without a UN veto, Gaza remains hostage to American power

The downplaying of the Security Council’s ceasefire resolution shows why the world can no longer look to Washington as the arbiter of a rules-based order.

By Samer Badawi April 2, 2024

An Israeli tank seen near the Israel-Gaza fence, southern Israel, January 21, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Why do Israelis feel so threatened by a ceasefire?

Halting the Gaza war means recognizing that Israel’s military goals were unrealistic — and that it cannot escape a political process with the Palestinians.

By Meron Rapoport March 29, 2024

Israeli authorities installing a new section of the wall around Qalqilya, occupied West Bank, replacing the existing fence which has several holes created by Palestinians for crossing into Israel for work, January 10, 2021. In 2004, the International Court of Justice stated that the West Bank wall is "illegal and must be dismantled." (Keren Manor/Activestills)

After years of diplomatic inertia, what can the ICJ offer Palestinians?

The UN’s vote to request a ruling on the occupation is an indictment of the failure to hold Israel accountable — and carries risks and opportunities alike.

By Hugh Lovatt January 1, 2023

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Fadi Ibrahim Abu Khusa (4) holds the photo of his two killed siblings, Shahed (9) and Mohammed (2), in their home in Zawaida village, central Gaza Strip, February 24, 2015. The two children were killed with their parents, Ibrahim and Sabreen, and 4 other members of their family by an Israeli attack on their home which occured on July, 30, 2014. Ibrahim and Sabreen went to the home of Sabreen's father one week before the attack thinking they would be safer. (Anne Paq / Activestills.org)

I was meant to talk about Palestinian kids at the UN. Israel forced me out

Belgium caved into Israeli pressure to disinvite me from the Security Council. In doing so, they helped undermine human rights work for Palestinian children.

By Brad Parker February 24, 2020

Israeli Jewish workers work at Beit El winery located in the Jewish settlement of Beit El, in the West Bank on September 4, 2019. (Hillel Maeir / Flash90)

The UN is right to track businesses in Israeli settlements

The disinformation campaign against a new UN database aims to legitimize the Israeli settler movement and those who illegally profit from it.

By Hugh Lovatt February 14, 2020

Simon KAPWEPWE (standing), Foreign Minister of Zambia, addressing the Seminar on Apartheid, Racial Discrimination and Colonialism. 4/Aug/1967 (UN Photo)

Unlike South Africa, the world is giving Israel a pass on apartheid

A UN Security Council resolution rejecting South Africa’s 1983 constitution shows that there is precedent and necessity to act against Israel’s Nation-State Law. In a referendum on November 2, 1983, White voters in apartheid South Africa approved a new constitution to restructure their political system. In addition to consolidating executive power with the presidency, a tricameral parliament…

By Amjad Iraqi July 26, 2019

A large group of protesters runs from Israeli sniper fire and crowd control measures, east of Gaza City, March 30, 2019. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills.org)

In Gaza’s Return March, echoes of an Apartheid-era massacre

The Sharpeville Massacre, in which South African police gunned down 250 black protesters, marked a turning point in the struggle against Apartheid. But it would take another 34 years until democracy finally came to South Africa. A cautionary tale for Palestinians. His art lies scattered across an unkept room, amid tarps and spent cans of paint. In…

By Samer Badawi March 31, 2019

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a PLO executive committee meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 22, 2015. (Flash90)

The Palestinian leadership must speak directly — to Americans

As long as Israel holds unparalleled sway in Washington, no progress toward Palestinian rights will be achieved. But that needn’t be the end of the story. By James J. Zogby Three decades ago, I was invited to address a Palestinian American audience on the work that was needed to change American policy toward Palestinian rights.…

By +972 Magazine September 4, 2017

A banner of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) reads, "Recognize Palestine, Boycott Israel" as thousands of Norwegians march through Oslo city streets in a May Day parade, May 1, 2016. (Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

German bank fights BDS while financing dispossession

Germany’s Bank for Social Economy shut down an account belonging to a Jewish peace group, accusing it of anti-Semitism. Meanwhile, it continues to handle an account belonging to the Jewish National Fund — which actively supports dispossession of Bedouin. By John Brown* In the beginning of December, +972’s Haggai Matar revealed that Germany’s Bank für…

By +972 Magazine January 16, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks on Middle East peace, Washington, DC, December 28, 2016. (State Dept Photo)

The real impact of UN Resolution 2334 has yet to come

The heart of the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements is territorial, picking up where 242 left off almost 50 years ago. It will also likely serve as the framework for this month’s Paris Peace Conference. By Shemuel Meir UN Security Council resolution 2334 caught Prime Minister Netanyahu off guard. Out of the clear…

By +972 Magazine January 9, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini,September 26, 2014. (State Dept Photo)

After the UN, the EU must lead the way on Israeli settlements

Resolution 2334 should be seen as a belated step towards mobilizing the international consensus. But to give it any real effect, states will need to build on the resolution with a view to making it operational. The EU is best positioned to do so. By Hugh Lovatt Much of the discussion about the UN Security…

By +972 Magazine December 28, 2016

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a helicopter as he tours the separation fence near the Palestinian town of Tarqumiyah, West Bank, July 20, 2016. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)

UN vote exposes the true face of Israel’s settlement policy

Whatever the passage of a UN resolution criticizing the settlements may bring, the fallout has already made one thing clear: the Israeli government subscribes to a de facto ‘Greater Israel’ policy. In the summer of 1967, before anyone was aware of just how durable Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory would prove, a movement…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland December 26, 2016

The UN Security Council votes to pass Resolution 2334, condemning Israeli settlements, 14-0, December 23, 2016. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo)

There’s nothing ‘pro-Israel’ about the UNSC vote — and that’s a good thing

The Israeli Left was quick to praise the UN Security Council’s resolution against the settlements, arguing that it was ‘good for Israel.’ As usual, the Palestinians were left out of the equation. Ever since the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israeli settlements last Friday, the Israeli Left has, for the most part,…

By Orly Noy December 25, 2016